Living A Natural Illusion
by GayClarisseLaRue
Summary: From now on, no more trust. If there was one thing that she's learned from family, it's that it can only be used to hurt you. No more family, no more friends, and definitely no more trust. She was brought into the world by a traitor, she wouldn't give them the right to take her out of it.
1. Chapter 1

**Hiiiiii guys! Okay, so I know I haven't been frequently updating but I'm behind in school and I've been trying to catch up. This story is about my OC Lani. I hope you like her, but if you have problems with her, tell me so I can improve her :) This might be a little short because it's just the prologue and I'm working on the next few chapters. **

Sure, maybe Lani was raised with nice things surrounding her, maybe she always had money when she wanted or needed it, and had nice clothes (which were barely ever worn by her. She preferred to wear the same clothes over and over again), and maybe she was a privileged brat who was never grateful for the things she had.

But being a homeless thirteen year old was actually pretty refreshing.

I know, it sounds weird.

Don't get me wrong, it also sucked majorly. She hadn't eaten in two days. Her stomach felt as if it was gnawing at itself, and she was _this close _to eating leaves off of trees.

She missed her old bed, the one she had been complaining about just a few weeks ago, saying it was too babyish for her. It was funny how people didn't realize how emotionally attached to things they were until it was taken away.

But on the other side, there was no more yelling. No more feeling like she didn't deserve to be there or that she was just an extra problem that people had to deal with.

Now before you start jumping to conclusions, Lani was NOT one of those angsty teens that run away because they think they're being disrespected by their parents or feel they don't have enough freedom.

No, she had had more than enough freedom. In fact, her stepdad didn't think she had enough freedom as she needed, so he gave her the ultimate privilege that a parent can give a growing child.

He kicked her out.

Yep, her stepdad somehow managed to convince her mom that she was a danger to her stepbrother Dean.

Now, during the entire situation, she kept thinking to herself that her mom wouldn't let her stepdad do anything rash.

There had been a monster attack. She used her 'powers' to stop it. The stupid giant stalker dog had almost left a scratch on poor Deanie. How horrible. Of course, they didn't care about the giant gashes it had left on her.

Still, her mom was the only person she could at least slightly trust. She could remember when she used to stay up all night crying and talking to her mom. She recalled how her mom used to tell her that her paranoia came from her dad. It was one of the few things she told Lani about her dad.

Anyway, the morning after the incident, she woke up assuming that she'd get scolded, then go to school and stay out until she knew her mom and Dean were in bed and her stepdad would talk to her like she's a piece of trash, maybe push her against a wall or shove her, then she'd make her way to bed and the process would be repeated for the next month or so. You know, the same old same old.

Much to her surprise, however, she was greeted by a packed backpack and a smug stepdad.

His exact words, you ask? "Get the hell outta here. We're done with your crap."

All whilst her mom just stood there and let it happen. Just like always.

Now that she was a couple days into her homeless journey, she could think of a lot of things to say to her 'parents'. She would call her mom a coward. What kind of caring mother would let her no good husband kick her thirteen year old daughter out?

She would've raged and yelled before storming out, but all she could do was tear up and look confused before the bag was stuffed into her arms and she was pushed outside and locked out.

She had cried in front of the people who hurt her. She had given them that satisfaction. They had sent her out with old clothes, no food, and monsters attacking her left and right. They wanted her to die.

From now on, no more trust. If there was one thing that she's learned from family, it's that it can only be used to hurt you.

No more family, no more friends, and definitely no more trust.

She was brought into the world by a traitor, she wouldn't give them the right to take her out of it.


	2. Chapter 2

**HIIIII guys! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it:) **

Lani had decided to make being homeless seem as fun as all the movies did. It always seemed like the runaway kids were having so much fun, away from the control of their parents and teachers.

Speaking of teachers, she wondered what her parents had told hers. Maybe she told them that she was transferring schools, or maybe they made up some lie about her getting hit by a bus and dying. Oh well, It's not like she would ever know.

She was walking around Prospect Park. Oh,sorry, correction: She was _living _in Prospect Park.

She liked the trees. They could easily be climbed and she was getting pretty damn good at making tree hammocks.

Dragging her bag behind her, she trudged in between trees. Her expression could easily scare away small children. So far the whole 'homeless chic' thing wasn't going exactly as planned.

She looked (and felt) like complete and utter crap. Her hair was a jumbled mess that slouched around her shoulders. This had happened due to the fact that she refused to ever put her hair up, yet she was sleeping in trees. Her hair always got stuck in branches. Not fun.

Her eyes were droopy and had formed bags under them from a lack of sleep. Since she didn't have anyone with her to change guard shift with, she had to take short, usually five minute catnaps every thirty minutes or so, which wasn't exactly a goodnight's sleep. This also meant that she had to set up her blanket hammock higher up in the trees so that people didn't see her sleeping in trees during the day. This was not only dangerous because she could fall out while she was sleeping, but it also took a lot more effort to set up the hammock.

Lani was also pretty sure that she smelled awful. Not showering for a week did that to you. Luckily, she had convinced a little boy to give her his picnic basket in exchange for a 'brand new toy'. The toy was really just an empty remote control car box that she had found in a garbage can and filled with rocks then had given to the boy.

Don't ask why she was looking through a garbage can.

But she actually felt really bad about it afterward. The little boy was given the job of carrying the picnic basket full of food to their picnic site while his parents unpacked everything else from the car, at least that's what he told her. She imagined how distraught he must've been when he opened the box and realized that the nice girl that he talked to had tricked him.

She'd stolen from a little kid. What kind of person was she?

Well, it's best not to dwell on the past, especially if it makes you guilty.

Grabbing a branch, she tried to pull herself up, then realized that it would be insanely difficult to climb to the top of a tree with an overstuffed backpack slung across her shoulder and a picnic basket in her hand.

Sighing, she pulled her hand away from the branch. She had two options, sit and eat on the ground or do the _thing. _If she ate on the ground, there was the chance of getting attacked by an animal. On the other hand, doing the thing would draw a lot of attention to her, and would freak people out.

Okay, ground it is.

She opened the backpack and pulled out the sheet that that she had been using as a hammock and laid it out on the ground, sitting down on it.

Her mouth watered as she opened the picnic basket. There were three, sandwiches, a bag of chips, potato salad, and some cut up fruit.

"Oh my holy mother of all things delicious."

She almost passed out at the sight. Or maybe it was the exhaustion. Ah, who cares anyway?

Reaching into the basket, she pulled out the bag of chips and opened it, the scent wafting towards her. She grabbed a handful of chips and stuffed them in her mouth.

"I've never appreciated unhealthy food more than I do right now."

After eating about half of the chips, she decided to save the rest of the food for later. Hopefully it doesn't spoil too fast.

She glanced at her watch, which she had luckily been wearing the morning she was kicked out. It had been thirty-four minutes since she last slept.

Well that's just effing wonderful. If she didn't want to climb up the tree, and she didn't want to get up there the _other _way, she would have to sleep on the ground, where any animal (or human for that matter) could take her food.

"Isn't my life just great?"

She tried to think of any other options she had. She could always hide the food, but that wouldn't stop any animals from eating it.

"No sleep then. At least until I find something to do with this food. Other than eating it." She says to nobody in particular.

So she gets up and the keeps trudging alone

**~~~~~Time skip~~~~~**

Unfortunately, Lani's body had become used to sleeping every half hour, and that made it really hard to stay awake.

She glanced at her watch. Her slumber was about twenty minutes overdue.

"This sucks majorly." She complained, almost dropping the basket as she tripped over her own feet.

A twig snapped behind her and she jumped, turning around quickly. Nothing was there. She started to panic but she tried to shake it off.

"It was nothing. Just your imagination." She told herself.

Another twig snapped, followed by the ruffling of bushes. Lani's heart started to beat faster, and her hands shook as she gripped the basket handle tightly.

"Oh god, not this again. Anything but this." She said shakily.

She was hoping to have her crap together by the next time on of those stupid things attacked her.

Even worse, she was terrified. She was supposed to keep herself out of stressful or scary situations.

What was she supposed to do? Count to ten? She couldn't think. Breathe in a paper bag? Where the hell was she supposed to find a paper bag?

Heart palpations? Check. Sweating and shaking? Check. Dizziness? Check. Not being able to breathe? Check.

Her mind raced as the sounds got closer.

Great, she was about to be killed and she was having another panic attack.


	3. Chapter 3

**HHHIIIIII guys! I'm so glad you all like my story :3 I didn't expect you all to like it as much as you do, so thank you all! **

Lani could remember the last time she had a panic attack. Not that it was hard, she had them a lot, but the last one was probably the worst.

_It was right after she was kicked out. She was standing in the hallway of the apartment building she had previously lived in. _

_She was in shock, and she had started to shake. She realized what was happening, and she was immediately filled with even more anxiety. One of the main causes of the panic attacks was just the fear of having another panic attack. It was a vicious cycle. _

_She dropped to her knees and started rummaging through her bag, her entire body shaking and her heart racing. She couldn't breathe. She was dying. She needed to call 911._

_Her mom couldn't have been as heartless as to not pack her meds. Or even a paper bag for her to breathe in. Then again, the last time she underestimated her mom, well, that was the reason she was in this situation. _

_They could probably hear her gasping for air through the door. They were probably laughing at her as panic quickly consumed her. _

_She just laid there and shook on the floor. _

And now it was happening again. No medication, nothing to calm her down. She couldn't defend herself if she was like this.

She fought against her urge to curl up and let herself stop breathing. She knew she had to take deep breaths, but there wasn't enough air. She couldn't think or speak or move.

She choked and wretched and gagged she couldn't find oxygen to fill her lungs.

What if she was having a heart attack? What if the air was being sucked out of her lungs by whatever creature was approaching her? She needed to get away, and fast.

She turned and got ready to run, but wooziness took over her body and she collapsed, everything going black.

**~~~Time Skip~~~**

When Lani's eyes opened everything was spinning. She blinked a few times as she felt something touch her cheek.

Her eyes widened and she slightly panicked for a few moments before she sat up and saw… a dog?

What the hell was a dog doing here?

The memories flooded back into her head, and she glanced around urgently, trying to detect any sign of an attacker, but there were none.

She glances back at the dog. It's a big dog. Her cousin had a dog that looked like this… what was it called?

Bernese mountain dog. Yeah, that's it. The dog nudged her hand, so she patted it's head.

"Were you the one that scared the crap out of me?"

Thankfully, the dog didn't reply. Talking dogs wasn't something that Lani wanted to deal with.

She ran her hand down the dog's neck, looking for a tag or collar or any sign that the dog had an owner, but she couldn't find any.

"Well, I guess you're homeless like me. Do you have a name?"

Wait a second, she was talking to a dog.

"I'll name you Bunny. You're cute enough to be named Bunny. Plus it's ironic and I like irony."

Bunny nudges her hand again and Lani happily pats her head one more time and then stands up.

"Well, if you're coming with me, you better get ready to be hungry and walk a lot."

She took the silence as an agreement, because as soon as she started walking, Bunny followed.

**Sorry for this chap being incredibly short :/ You all are so awesome and amazing and I'll try to get a longer chapter up soon :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh my gods, I haven't updated any of my fanfics in forever! I just haven't really had much inspiration for it, but I'm back to write a little before Camp NaNoWriMo so hopefully I'll make some progress on this story. I've been thinking a lot about Lani's home life and a lot of other stuff so I'm gonna include a lot of little flashback thingies and stuff about that. So, here we go. **

Really, all you have to do is breathe, sleep, and eat.

That's it. That's all you need to do in life. You only have three freaking jobs to do and that is to breathe, sleep, and eat.

Sure, therapists will go on and on about how you need to do other things like go to school, get good grades, be a good person, help others, blah blah blah.

But how the hell am I supposed to do anything right, if I can't even _breathe _right. How am I supposed to have a proper life if every single time I lay down and hear a noise, even the smallest noise that could be anything at all, my heart starts racing and my breath disappears and all I can think about is how someone's there, and they're coming, and they're just waiting for you to make the slightest noise, they're waiting for you to breathe to take as a sign to come for you. Or if when kids are playing tag and one of them screams, your mind instantly jumps to the thought that they're getting murdered, and whoever's hurting them is going to come for you. How are you supposed to function properly when whenever someone talks about guns, or torture, or maybe they're just hugging you way too tight and you can't breathe, you spaz out because you're body's here in one time but your mind's still stuck in that moment. That horrible goddamn moment where you can feel your heart race, you can hear the blood pumping through your veins and feel the sweat on your palm's and feel his hands on your throat and it just _won't go away. _

How am I supposed to pretend I'm okay, to fend for myself without anyone here to hold my hand and make sure I'm okay, if I can't even _breathe. _

I shake my head, snapping myself out of the trance I put myself in. I realize I'm gripping Bunny's fur pretty hard, and I let go of her, not wanting to hurt her. I run my hand down her back. She's sitting next to me sleeping while I lean against some random tree. Oh god, I do this to myself way too much. I've got to stop thinking about it if I don't want to have another panic attack, or worse.

Reaching into my pocket, I pull out some spare change and count it. If I run out I could always just pickpocket more people… although that's not exactly the easiest thing. I'll find a way to get some more….

I lightly push Bunny's head off my lap and stand up, and she takes that as I sign to get up and look at me eagerly.

"I don't have food for you, Bunny." I say, but she doesn't seem to understand because she continues to look up at me.

I roll my eyes and grab my packed bag, walking away from the tree, hoping Bunny will stay and someone else will find her and take her home with them. I can't take care of a dog and myself if I don't even have money.

Unfortunately, Bunny follows me again and I ignore her as I walk, looking around for any sign of a payphone.

Ugh, I know, payphones, but I don't exactly have a cell phone. I wasn't exactly the favorite child, I was more of the one that everyone forgot unless they were angry and needed someone to take it out on.

It takes a while for me to find one, of course, but I eventually do, and I sigh in relief. I quickly get out my change and put a quarter in, dialing number that I've completely memorized by now.

The phone rings a few times, and I wonder if she'll even answer, but just when I'm about to hang up and forget about it, the line gets picked up and I hear a familiar voice, which immediately lowers my anxiety level.

"Hello?" She asks me.

"Hailey!" I reply, smiling.

"Lani? Is that you?" She asks, and I can almost see her furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm on a payphone."

"A payphone? Why?"

"Well, my mom and Joe kicked me out…"

"What?! Lani, I'm pretty sure that's illegal! You're a minor!"

"I know, I know. God Hailey, you act like I'm stupid. I'm doing fine, I just…"

"Come over her, right now."

"But-"

"No buts, you're coming here and you're explaining everything."

I sigh. "Fine, I'll be right over."

"Good." She hangs up the phone.

I put the payphone back where it was and look down at Bunny. "Her apartment building doesn't allow pets Bunny, so you'll have to wait outside."

She doesn't protest, so I start to walk in the direction of the apartment building and she follows.

Although, when we actually get to the apartment, I look at her and tell her to stay, which I'm not sure she'll actually do, but whatever.

I walk into the building, heading straight to the elevator. The people that work here are pretty used to seeing me here, but then again, I do look like I'm homeless, which I kind of am. I get into the elevator and press the floor 3 button.

The elevator goes up and then the doors open, and I step out, smiling as I head down to the right apartment and knock on the door, even though I probably don't even need to. They never mind if I just open the door and walk in.

I can hear some yelling from inside about getting the door, then it opens and I look down at a little girl with dark hair.

"Hey Savannah." I say to the seven year old.

"Hi Lani!" She replies as Hailey comes to the door and smiles at me.

"Here, come in Lani." She says and I walk into the cramped apartment.

Hailey and Savannah aren't much different appearance wise. Sure, Hailey's obviously much taller due to being seven years older than Savannah, but they both have the same dark hair, tan skin, and brown eyes, and they're both extremely pretty in a simple way. Another thing they all have in common is a typical Brooklyn accent, which I used to find hilarious but now it's kind of relaxing to hear all of their voices.

"Lani!" I hear another familiar voice and look over to see their mom walking over to us. "How are you doing sweetheart."

"I'm okay." I say, smiling in her direction.

Hailey looks at me. "Come on, let's go in my room, you have some explaining to do." She grabs my arm and pulls me through the small apartment and to her room, passing the small shrine of pictures of her dad on the wall. He had been in the war for a long time before he died almost a year ago, which changed a lot of things for the entire family.

I get pulled into her room, which she shares with Savannah. I can hear her brother, Mitchell, arguing with her other sister, Natalie in the room next to her.

She sits down on her bed and I sit next to her. She eyes me warily.

"First things first, sleeves up."

I roll my eyes at her. "Hailey, it's been more than half a year. Do we have to do this every time-"

She cuts me off. "Yes, we do. Roll your sleeves up."

I sigh and roll up the sleeve of my hoodie, showing her my arms, both with diagonal scars on them. "See? No new ones."

She smiles a little. "Good, or else I'd have to yell at you."

"Mmhm, what about you."

She bites her lip. "Last week, it wasn't bad I swear, I told my mom and we talked to my therapist about it. All that crap. It's fine."

I nod. "Just, try not to again, okay?"

"I know Lani, I know. Now, tell me about what happened."

I sigh again and lay back on the bed, telling her everything that's happened so far, excluding the part where I thought there had been another monster, of course. She didn't need to know about that.

"Oh god Lani… now you're homeless AND you have a dog to take care of?"

"Yeah… she might be waiting outside but she could've left. She won't stop following me."

She makes a thinking face and I smile again. "Well… I'm leaving tomorrow. We're visiting family in California so I can't really help much as far as somewhere to stay. I'm super sorry, but I have money you can take and I'll ask my mom if she can gather up some leftover food for you to take, and you can give some to the dog too, okay?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to take your money."

She gives me a look. "Lani, you're homeless, I'm giving you money. I'll be right back."

I roll my eyes and she gets up, leaving her room, then comes back after a while. "My mom said she can gather up some food for you to take, and she's cooking dinner right now so you're staying to eat with us, and she said you could spend the night here. She also said you could use our shower because you already smell like a dumpster."

I laugh and roll my eyes. "Fine, and… thanks."

She kisses my cheek. "No problem. Now, go shower."

After I shower and change into some of Hailey's clothes, which are too big for me but her mom insisted she needed to wash my clothes before I leave tomorrow, her mom calls all of us for dinner.

It's a little late to be eating dinner, and their table's kind of cramped with all six of us there but I don't complain. Her mom's one of the best cook's I've ever met.

The whole time we eat, Hailey and her mom are asking me questions, and Savannah, Natalie, and Mitchell also talk to me every once in a while. Then after dinner, Hailey's mom says that Hailey can take a day off of doing the dishes because I'm here and Hailey seemed pretty content about that.

Hailey and I end up sitting on her bed again after dinner, and she finally stops bombarding me with questions.

"I wish I could help more." She says to me.

"I know, H, but I'll be fine."

"You should call the cops, they would get arrested I bet."

"But then I'd go into some foster home or something and I don't want to do that."

She sighs and just looks at me for a while and then her mom comes in and tells us to get to bed.

"Do you want to sleep in my bed or on the floor?"

I sigh and shrug. "Do I have to sleep?"

"Yes Lani, you have to sleep. Nightmares been keeping you up?"

I nod. "Yeah."

She lays down in her bed, under the blankets. "Here, sleep here with me and if you have a nightmare I'll wake you up and stay up with you until you go back to sleep, okay?"

I smile a little and sit next to her, laying down. "Okay, fine."

She smiles and reaches up, turning off the light.

"Goodnight."

"Night."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello people! So, I keep getting ideas for my story so I'm just trying to get everything out of my head and into writing. And since I was asked, yes, everything will be explained sooner or later. I just like foreshadowing and all that great stuff. So, here's chapter five!**

_Lights. Bright lights and sirens. I felt sick to my stomach, and if I moved an inch I know I wouldn't be able to keep anything I had eaten in my stomach. My body was shaking violently, and my breathing was shaky. Nothing could've prepared me for this. _

_The room was dark despite the flashing blue and red lights. I shouldn't be scared, I should be happy. They were coming to get me. I would be out of here soon. I don't think I would be able to manage a scream, even if I wasn't gagged. _

_I felt tears rolling down my cheeks again. I hadn't even realized I'd been crying. My fingers had gone completely numb, and I don't know if it's from the cold or my hands being tied up too tight. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to think that it'll all be over soon. I'll get out of here. Either that or I'll die. I'd take either one._

_Unfortunately, the calm had been diminished by loud noises that ripped through the air. Had they found him? Did they kill him? The noises didn't stop, and my head throbbed, and I cried, and the loud bangs and crashes just kept coming, over and over again, and I was sure I was only half alive. _

_I slowly opened my eyes. The noises had stopped and I heard running towards the door. My heart started to race even faster. Maybe it was someone coming to rescue me. Or maybe he had killed them all. _

My eyes quickly open and I grab for the person who was shaking me. I cling to her arm, taking in the scene before me. It's warm, not cold, I'm not tied up, and I can speak.

I look over at Hailey. She lets my hold onto her arm, looking at me with a worried expression.

"You were having a nightmare." She says, pulling her arm from my grip, only to grab my hand and hold it. "You okay?"

I nod, squeezing her hand. "Yeah… I think so." I let out a shaky breath and she wraps her arms around me in a hug.

"It's okay to not be okay, you know that right?"

I nod again, letting her hold me. We sit like that for a minute, and then she pulls away and looks at me. "Do you need anything? Some water, sleeping pills?"

"No, but uh, can you grab me my hoodie, it's over there?" I look over to the chair that my hoodie was thrown on.

"Of course." She kisses my cheek and gets up to grab my hoodie.

Looking over at the other side of the tiny room, I notice someone's missing. "Hey, where's Savannah?" I ask her.

"She probably went to sleep in my mom's room again." She grabs my hoodie and holds it up, noticing the rips and tears in it. "Lani, this thing's no good anymore. Here…" She puts my hoodie back down and walks to her closet, pulling out one of hers. "You can have this one." She throws it to me and then crawls back onto the bed.

I recognize the hoodie, since it's the one that she usually wears. Of course, she has a collection of hoodies, so she'll probably never run out. I smile a bit, seeing her name stitched into the back, which she does to almost every article of clothing she buys. I pull the hoodie over my shoulders; it's simple and black, and too big for me. It also smells like cinnamon, just like her. Probably since she's obsessed with cinnamon candles and burns them almost all the time.

"Is that one better?" She asks.

I nod. "Yeah, a lot better."

She sits up and pulls her knees to her chest, and I lay back down. I stretch my arm out and start playing with her hair, which she never minds. My sleeve rolls down a bit, due to the hoodie being too big. She turns to face me, so that her back's leaning against the wall and her legs are on top of mine, and she holds my hand, using her other hand to trace the scars on my arm, biting her lip.

Her finger runs over an old scar on my forearm and she looks at me. "Is this the one that came from your stepdad?" She asks quietly.

I sigh and close my eyes. "Yeah." I can still remember when I got it, despite it being more than a year ago.

_I was numb. I had been since it had all happened. I was only twelve, and I had already seen to many things, that went through things that no kid should ever have to experience. _

_To be honest, I don't think I felt anything other than fear. I wasn't happy, I wasn't sad, I wasn't even content. Ever._

_I cried a lot, but I never knew why. The tears just came, and once they were there I couldn't stop them. I would cry for hours, not even knowing why. _

_Sure, I had therapists, and psychologists, and I went to every appointment, listened to the coping methods, but it never worked. _

"_Post-traumatic stress disorder." They say. "Lots of people recover from it, you just need to try."_

_After about a year I had stopped trying. I never saw a point in it. Why couldn't they accept that I couldn't be helped and I was just a nuisance? I had heard them talking to my mom about calling a hospital with a psychiatric ward if it had ever gotten really bad. She wanted to care, but how could she? She didn't know how to help, and he didn't want her to. _

_When she had first gotten married, I was excited that I would finally have a dad, but that excitement disappeared quickly. He hated me, and I never understood why. My mom loved him, but I knew he didn't love her. We both knew she was just a way to get someone to take care of him and his stupid son without having to do anything. He went out with other women all the time, and everyone in the house knew what was really going on, but nobody ever said anything._

_I had come home from school early. I already felt bad, and in the car, I could see that my mom had cried on the way to pick me up._

_It had been a horrible idea. I knew I couldn't handle it anymore. The kids had pushed me over the edge. I never expected to be popular, but if they would just leave me alone for one day…._

_When someone had found me in the bathroom, they freaked, and I cried, and they yanked me all the way to the nurse's office._

_My mom was trying not to cry, but I could tell she had been. How else would someone react to finding out their twelve year old daughter had tried to kill herself in the school bathroom? _

_When I got home, my stepdad was less than happy. He started yelling as soon as I walked through the door, about him just wanting a normal life, wanting to be happy, wanting to be able to be in this house without hearing about me being messed up. _

_He had grabbed my arm tightly and yanked me towards him, yelling in my face some more. _

"_Oh, you want some attention?! You want to cut yourself like a little emo?! Huh?! Is that what you want?!"_

_I cringe at the yelling and try to pull my arm away from him._

"_That's what you want, isn't it! You want to try to ruin my life! Maybe if you weren't such a little bitch I wouldn't have to get pissed at you!" _

_By now I could feel the tears running down my cheeks as I continued to try to yank my arm out of his grip._

"_Well since you want to cut yourself so much to get some attention from your mommy, here you go!" My eyes widen as he grabs a pair of scissors off the counter and tugs on my arm, dragging the sharp scissors across my forearm. _

_I scream, tears now flowing from my eyes and he lets go of my arm, shoving me. "There you go! Now get out of here!" _

_My mom stands to the side, her eyes wide and her hands over her mouth. I run to the bathroom and lock myself in, bandaging up my arm, and I stay in there, sobbing, for an hour until I get screamed at to go to my room. _

I look over at Hailey, who's still tracing over my scars. "You tired?" She asks.

Blinking, I realize that I'm actually still pretty tired. "Yeah."

She turns and lies down next to me, pulling the blankets over her shoulders. "Hopefully you don't have any more nightmares tonight."

I smile at her and she smiles back, holding my hand under the blanket. I close my eyes and start to drift off into sleep.


End file.
